Apparatus for lashing-down of articles

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the lashing-down of articles being conveyed in a means of transport, and, in particular, of luggage being transported in aircraft.

United States Patent [15] 3,685,799 Wriedt [.451 Aug. 22, 1972 v [54]APPARATUS FOR LASHING-DOWN OF [56] References Cited ARTICLES [72] IAlfred w it, Kr w h 130 UNITED STATES PATENTS nventor: :1 con orst IHamburg 53 Germany 3,520,555 7/l970 Blair lO5/68 T X Filedl March 1971Primary'Examiner-Othell M. Simpson [21] APP] No; 121,340Attorney-Bosworth, Sessions, Herrstrom & Cain [57] ABSTRACT I "254/ 9233 Apparatus for the lashing-down of articles being con- [58] Flgeid5/621; 8 T 580/179 A veyed in a means of II'aIfISPOTt, and, inparticular, of

luggage bemg transported in aircraft.

7 Chain, 4 Drawing Figures PA'IENTEDmzz m2 3.685, 799

' sum 1 er I;

Fig.7

WWW"

APPARATUS FOR LASHING-DOWN OF ARTICLES BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION Although, in most cases, it is desirable to restrain articlesduring their journey in a means of transport, such restraint isfrequently omitted and dangerous shifts of cargo are often accepted forreasons of laborsaving or of convenience. For those cases where a securerestraint of the cargo is essential, if its shifting is to be avoided,the tightening or loosening of the only lashing devices presentlyavailable is cumbersome and timeconsuming. Also, it is often necessaryto leave valuable storage space empty in order to allow the operatorsaccess to the lashing means. Further, when such devices are-used, it isscarcely possible, if not impossible, to tighten them during thetransport, although it is usually not even possible, to ascertain ifsuch tightening is necessary.

Especially in aircraft, but also in other means of transport, such asrailroads, buses or the like, the transported articles, for instance,passengers luggage, are often subjected to high acceleration andvibration even under normal conditions which can uncontrollably shiftand damage such articles when these are not reliably secured. Inaircraft, such shifts of cargo are particularly dangerous as they maycause deleterious changes in trim. Furthermore, the disorder of thearticles caused by accidental cargo shifting is most-undesirable whenthey are offloaded manually and unacceptable in cases of mechanicaloffloading.

It is the aim of the invention to provide a solution which makes itpossible to lash down reliably articles to be conveyed in means oftransport, to hold them securely during the journey, to loosen thelashing means and to hold them away from the articles so that these canbe mechanically loaded or off-loaded, and, finally, to keep the lashingmeans in readiness for renewed use.

Apparatus of a kind described above and embodying the inventioncomprises, first, at least one tightening strap which is located abovethe articles and, at least' partly, laterally to them, one of its endsbeing attached to the means of transport and its other end attached in atwist-tight manner to a drum which is mounted for rotation on the meansof transport, and, second, at least one lifting strap, one of its endsbeing attached to an intermediate point on the tightening strap and theother end of the lifting strap being attached in a twist-tight manner toanother drum which is mounted for rotation on the means of transport,with the turning of the two drums being controllable so that thecoiling-up of the tightening strap is always accompanied by a sufficientuncoiling of the lifting strap and vice versa.

The term twist-tight as used herein means that the particular end of astrap is attached to the circumference of an associated drum in such away that, when the drum turns in one direction or the other, the strapwinds onto it or unwinds off it, respectively.

According to this arrangement, a lashing-down of the articles againsttheir storage base is efiected by means of a coiling of the tighteningstraps or belts onto the tightening drums, whereby the lifting strap orstraps are correspondingly unwound from their associated drums. Anunstrapping of the lashing is effected by the reverse procedure, i.e.,the tightening straps are unwound from their drums and lifted off thearticles by the lifting straps as the latter are wound up on theirassociated v side of the articles at a distance therefrom, while, 'on'the opposite side, a supporting wall abuts on the articles. It isevident that, by such an arrangement and design, only a minimal straplength is used and that,

when the tightening straps are slackened, the articles can be movedunhindered in or out beneath them.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, two

parallel shafts, which can be driven independently of each other, areprovided and to each of them are attached coaxially at approximatelyequal distances an equal number of drums carrying tightening or liftingstraps in a twist-tight manner,-whereby all tightening drums areattached to one shaft and all lifting drums to the other. j

A particularly advantageous feature of the invention is the provision ofa clutch or-ratchet mechanism between each tightening strap drum and itsshaft so that, after a particular tightening strap has reached a tautstate and its drum can, therefore, not turn any further in thetightening direction, a further turning of the shaft in the tighteningdirection is still possible. The mechanism also locks the drum against areverse turn and, therefore, against a slackening of the tension of thetightening strap. This makesit possible to accomplish an equaltensioningof all tightening straps, even if these are not tightened up all at thesame time for reason of differences in the articles beneath them.

It is further very advantageous to hold the tightening shaft during thelashing phase under a controllable tightening torque so that, if thetension of one or several tightening straps should diminish on accountof a cargo shift, the tension is readjusted or, in other words, to letthe motor for the particular shaft continue to run very slowly justovercoming the total resistive BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1is a representation in perspective of an apparatus embodying theinvention shown in its lashed state and simplified to illustrate clearlythe principle of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in its unlashed state;

FIG. 3 is a perspective representation of a larger apparatus accordingto the invention shown in its lashed state; and i FIG. 4 shows theapparatus of FIG. 3 in its unlashed state.

. 3 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND MODIFIED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS.1 and 2, an article 1 rests on a storage base 2. Above article 1 and onone side of it stretches a flexi- I ble tightening strap 3. One end oftightening strap 3 is attached to a tightening drum 4 and the other endis atand the vertical portions of the tightening strap. The

other end of lifting strap 8 is attached to a lifting drum 9 in atwist-tight manner. v

' It is evident from FIG. 1 that, upon turning of tig tening ,drumlifting-drum 9 in the direction of the arrows, tightening strap3 ispulled over article 1 in such a way that the article is pressed tightlyagainst tightening strap 3 can'be maintained by maintaining a torqueattightening drurn'4. 1'

For release'or unlashing, the two drums 4and'9 are turned in theopposite way and in the direction of the arrowsaccordi'ng to FIG. '2,whereupon tightening strap.

- 3 is brought into a position essentially at an angle and completelyfree of articlev 1 so that it can be moved in either direction asindicated by the double arrow in FIG. 2.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, many upright bags .or articles1 rest on storage base 2. These articles may, for example, havebeenbrought into this position by a conveying device which constitutesthe storage base. I A number of tightening drums 4 are attached atapproximatelyequal intervals on a tightening shaft 11in sucha way thattightening drums 4 are locked against turning clockwise as viewed inFIGS. 3 and 4, but that, upon restraining of the tightening drum by thetightening strap 3 coiled on it in a twist-tight manner and acounterclockwise turning torque of the shaft overcoming the resistanceof a clutch built in between shaft andeach tightening drum, the shaftturns counterclockwise. Shafl 11 is controllably driven by a motor 10.

During the operational stage leading to the state Y shown in FIG. 3, thetightening shaft 11 is turned counterclockwise to coil all tighteningstraps 3 onto the tightening drums 4. But, as these tiflitening strapsdo not passover a uniform profile of the articles, they do not becometaut simultaneously and, therefore, by their tension, restrain thetightening drums at difi'erent times while the clutches enable shaft 11to continue turning. At the state shown in FIG. 3, alltightening straps3 are tightly stretched and are pressing the bags or articles 1againststoragebase2andsupportwall6sothatarticles are securely held. Theresistive torque is preferably of an amount that, on the one hand, thearticles are tightly lashed but, on the other, are not damaged orcrushed.

Upon reaching the lashing condition shown in FIG. 3

- where all tightening straps are taut, shaft 11 may be locked. It canbe advantageous, however, to continue turning the shaft against theresistance of all clutches v during the flight, for instance, and, thus,to maintain storage floor 2 and supporting wall 6. The tension of I thetension of such tightening straps which might otherwise become slackenedby a shift of cargo.

Lifting drums 9, also shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and corresponding in numberto that of tightening drums 4, are attached at approximately equalintervals on a lifting shaft 13 which canbe controllably rotated by amotor 12. Prior to, or, at the latest, simultaneously with, thecounterclockwise (as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4) turning of the tighteningshaft 11 as described above, all lifting drums 9 on their part have beenturned clockwise suffi-' ciently to relieve lifting straps 8 coiled onthem. In the drawing, the uncoiled lengths of the lifiing straps 8 are,for simplicitys sake, shown as being straight, whereas, in reality, theywill more or less sag, corresponding to the profile of the articles. Inorder to prevent further and unnecessary sagging of the lifting straps,the shaft can now be locked. I I

FIG. 4 shows the apparatus in its slackened state. During theoperational steps leading'to this position,

lifting drums 9 are rotated counterclockwiseunt'il they have tightenedthe relieved portions of tightening straps 3 between their anchorings 5and their points of I Y attachment 7 and have thus removed them from'thebags. Thereupon, shafi l3 and, with it, drums 9'are locked. Prior to, orat latest,'jsimultaneous with, the

counterclockwise turning of lifiing drums 9,tightening-' shaft 11 andtightening drums 4 which in this direction are locked to it are rotatedclockwise. Thereby, all

tightening strips 3 are sufficiently slackened through an approximatelyequal uncoiling to make possible the tightening of their portionsbetween the places 5 and 7 as described above. But, as noted previously,tightening straps 3 are extended unequal lengths according to theparticular profile of the articles over which they pass, and, therefore,the horizontal portions of the tightening straps are naturally saggingto a different extent, These unevenly sagging portions are tightened upto the required extent by counterclockwise rotation of shaft 11 and bymeans of the equalizing effect of the clutches until they are all liftedofi sufiiciently from the bags or articles. 'Ihereupon, 'the shaft 11 islocked. bags A can now be freely moved in either direction as in dicatedby the double arrow in FIG. 2.

The described embodiment can, of course, be

modified without departing from the basic concept of the invention. Forinstance, the lateral support wall could be omitted and the tighteningrollers be arranged further down so that the articles would be pressedagainst the storage base only. In that case, it would be preferable touse two lifting straps-one each on opposite edges of the storage base-toeach tightening 1. Apparatus for the lashing down of articles to thecargo-bearing bed of a means of comprising a .f

at least one tightening strap and associated rotatable twist-tight drum,said strap extending above and at least partly laterally along thearticles to be lashed down, one end of said tightening strap beingattached to the means of transport and the other end being attached toits associated twist-tight drum for tightening retraction and looseningextension of said strap with respect to said articles, said tighteningstrap twist-tight drum being mounted for winding and unwinding rotationon the means of transport adjacent said other end of said tighteningstrap, and v at least one lifting strap and associated rotatabletwist-tight drum, one end of said strap being attached to saidtightening strap at a point intermediate its ends and the other endbeing attached to its associated twist-tight drum for lifting retractionand lowering extension of said strap, said lifting strap twist-tightdrum being mounted for wind ing and unwinding rotation on the means oftrans- P the rotation of said twist-tight drums being controllable sothat the tightening retraction of said tightening strap is accompaniedby a corresponding lowering extension of said lifting strap to lash downthe articles and loosening extension of said lifting strap by acorresponding lifting of said tightening strap away from the articles.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said tightening strap inits loosened position extends generally horizontally above andvertically on one side of the articles at a distance therefrom togetherwith a supporting structure abutting the articles on their other side.

6 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 together with a pair-ofindependentlyvdrivable shafts, one of said shafts having mounted thereonand spaced along the shaft at regular intervals the twist-tight drumsas-.

sociated with all of said tightening straps, and the other of saidshafts having mounted thereon and spaced along the shaft at regularintervals the twist-tight drums associated with all of said liftingstraps.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which a clutching means .isprovided between each drum associated with a tightening strap and theshaft upon which it is mounted whereby after each tightening strap hasbeen retracted and reached a taut condition preventing further turningof its associated drum, its associated drum is locked against unwindingand slackening of said tightening strap and further turning in thetightening direction of the shaft carrying the tightening strap drums ispermitted

1. Apparatus for the lashing down of articles to the cargobearing bed ofa means of transport comprising at least one tightening strap andassociated rotatable twisttight drum, said strap extending above and atleast partly laterally along the articles to be lashed down, one end ofsaid tightening strap being attached to the means of transport and theother end being attached to its associated twist-tight drum fortightening retraction and loosening extension of said strap with respectto said articles, said tightening strap twisttight drum being mountedfor winding and unwinding rotation on the means of transport adjacentsaid other end of said tightening strap, and at least one lifting strapand associated rotatable twist-tight drum, one end of said strap beingattached to said tightening strap at a point intermediate its ends andthe other end being attached to its associated twist-tight drum forlifting retraction and lowering extension of said strap, said liftingstrap twist-tight drum being mounted for winding and unwinding rotationon the means of transport, the rotation of said twist-tight drums beingcontrollable so that the tightening retraction of said tightening strapis accompanied by a corresponding lowering extension of said liftingstrap to lash down the articles and loosening extension of said liftingstrap by a corresponding lifting of said tightening strap away from thearticles.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said tighteningstrap in its loosened position extends generally horizontally above andvertically on one side of the articles at a distance therefrom togetherwith a supporting structure abutting the articles on their other side.3. The apparatus according to claim 1 together with a pair ofindependently drivable shafts, one of said shafts having mounted thereonand spaced along the shaft at regular intervals the twist-tight drumsassociated with all of said tightening straps, and the other of saidshafts having mounted thereon and spaced along the shaft at regularintervals the twist-tight drums associated with all of said liftingstraps.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which a clutching means isprovided between each drum associated with a tightening strap and theshaft upon which it is mounted whereby after each tightening strap hasbeen retracted and reached a taut condition preventing further turningof its associated drum, its associated drum is locked against unwindingand slackening of said tightening strap and further turning in thetightening direction of the shaft carrying the tightening strap drums ispermitted.
 5. ApparatuS according to claim 4 in which the shaft drivingthe tightening strap drums is provided with means holding it under acontrollable tightening torque to maintain tension in all tighteningstraps even in the event of a shift of the lashed-down articles. 6.Apparatus according to claim 1 having a plurality of neighboringtightening straps interconnected by a network of cross straps. 7.Apparatus according to claim 1 in which at least part of said tighteningstraps comprises elastic material.